Royal Heirs Required (The Sherdana 1)

Soon the twins’ first riding lesson was done, leaving Gabriel free to turn his thoughts to the woman beside him and all that had transpired in the past twelve hours.

Since discovering last night how swiftly Olivia became aroused, he’d taken full advantage of her ardent responses and made love to her with fierce passion. Already his lust for her was dangerously close to uncontrollable. Telling himself making love to Olivia was a novelty that would soon wear off wasn’t cooling his ardor one bit. Even now, as he watched her smile as her gaze followed the twins, he felt heat rise in his blood.

It shocked him to realize that he’d happily forgo the rest of his appointments to spend the time alone with Olivia in her suite. This was how he’d been with Marissa. Preoccupied. Distracted. Obsessed.

Then again, it was early in their relationship. The time of exploration when all things were fascinating and new. Their lust would eventually burn itself out and they could settle into companionable monotony. But even as he entertained this possibility his instincts rejected it. More than his blood hummed when she was near. This was a feeling he’d never known before. Besides being beautiful, Olivia was intelligent and caring. He’d been right the first time he’d pronounced her perfect. But he’d underestimated how deep that flawlessness went.

“Gabriel?” Olivia said, returning him to the here and now. “I was just explaining to Bethany and Karina that we can’t have dinner with them tonight.”

“Because we are...” He had no idea what was scheduled that evening. How was that possible? He usually knew his itinerary backward and forward.

“Going to the ballet,” Olivia prompted.

“That’s it.” He smiled at her.

“But perhaps we could visit before we leave to read you one quick bedtime story.”

“That we can do.”

The twins’ chorus of happiness sent a bird winging off through the trees from a few feet away.

“I think it’s time to head back to the palace,” Olivia said, shaking her head as the girls began to protest. “Your father has work to do.”

Gabriel was impressed how well she managed the toddlers. The twins were darling but rambunctious. Marissa had done a fine job of blending discipline with love for they seemed to take direction well and had none of the fits of temper he had grown accustomed to with their mother. Despite losing Marissa recently, they were adjusting nicely to life in the palace. Of course, they had each other, something he could relate to with two brothers of his own. Sometimes it had seemed as if it was him, Nic and Christian against the world when in truth it was probably more reasonable to say it had been the three of them against their parents.

After leaving the twins in the hands of two young maids, Gabriel walked Olivia to her meeting with the wedding planner and bussed her cheek in a chaste kiss goodbye. He had fifteen minutes before his first meeting of the day and went in search of Christian.

His brother was nowhere near the palace. Christian had an office in the city that he usually preferred to work out of, claiming fewer distractions. Gabriel suspected he liked working without the king’s or queen’s “subtle” influence. With two brothers ahead of him for the throne, Christian had always enjoyed a lot of freedom. So had Nic. The middle brother didn’t even live in Sherdana. He’d gotten his education in the States and resided in California while he pursued his dream of privatizing space travel.

Gabriel envied them both.

And he wouldn’t trade places with, either. He’d been born to rule and had never wished to do anything else. But being king came with a price. He belonged to the people of Sherdana and owed it to them to do what was best for the country, even at the expense of his own desires. Breaking off his relationship with Marissa was only one of many sacrifices he’d made for Sherdana, but it had been his hardest and most painful.

It was why he was marrying a woman he admired instead of one he loved. And yet, hadn’t last night and this morning proved that life with Olivia at his side would be the furthest thing from hardship?

Grinning, Gabriel headed into his father’s office where the energy minister had come for a briefing.

* * *

Olivia yawned behind her hand as she surveyed Noelle’s drawings for the twins’ dresses for the wedding. It was almost midnight. She’d just returned from another event, this one raising money for an arts program for underprivileged children.

She wasn’t insensible to the irony that what she intended to pay for these two dresses could probably fund the program for a year.

Behind her the door to her suite opened and closed. Her skin prickled in anticipation as muted footsteps advanced toward her. The faint scent of Gabriel’s aftershave tickled her nose a second before his hands soothed along her shoulders.

“Waiting up for me?”

Gabriel placed a kiss on her neck, his lips sliding into a particularly sensitive spot that made her tremble.

Was it possible that less than a week ago their every private encounter had been stilted and awkward? Now she spent her days as a tightly wound spring of sexual anticipation and her nights in Gabriel’s arms soaring toward the stars.

“Of course,” she answered, setting aside the sketches and getting to her feet. She’d already dressed for bed in her favorite silk pajamas. They covered her from neck to toe. Not exactly seductive, but Gabriel never seemed to care.

“I’m leaving early in the morning,” he explained, pulling her into his arms and dropping a sweet kiss on her lips. “And I will be gone for four days. I wanted a private moment with you before I left.”

Four long days. And nights. She’d gotten accustomed to cuddling against his side, her cheek on his bare chest, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep.

She adored his intensity—making love with Gabriel was like being consumed by the sun—but these moments of stillness had their own rewards.